Improvement in railroad-signals



H. c. CROSBY. RAILROAD-SIGNALS.

N0. I94,9 9 Z-. Patented Sept.11,1877.

L JD

WITNESSES INVENTOR- NPETERS. PHOTO-LITIIOGRAPHEFI. WASHINGTON. D. C.

' IINIED HENRY C. CROSBY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-SIGNALS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 194,992, datedSeptember 11, 1877; application filed December 4, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. ORosBY, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Railway-Signals, of which improvements the following is a full,clear, and exact description, which will'enable others skilled in theart to which my invention appertains to make and use the saidimprovements, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part hereof, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of arailwaytrack provided with a signal apparatus embodying my invention,and Fig. 2 a like elevation of a part of the apparatus detached.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

In the drawings, A represents a railwaytrack; and B, an alarm-signal,suspended near it. C is a bell-crank, pivoted near the track. D is awire or cable, connected to the signal and to the bell-crank. E is awater-tight case, attached to one of the rails of the track.

In Fig. 2 the case is represented as it appears when its outer sidepiece is removed, showing the mechanism arranged within. F

and F are posts, passing freely through corresponding ope:.-ings in thelid E of the case and in a cross-bar, G. The lower ends of these postsrest on a spring, H, the ends of which have an independentvertically-yielding movement. The upper ends of the posts are arrangedto be struck either by the wheels of passing trains or by a push-bar orstriker on one or more of the cars or on the engine. I deem itpreferable to arrange removable caps, made of steel or other hard metal,on the upper ends of the posts, as shown at I I, to prevent the postsfrom being battered and worn too rapidly, and to facilitate repairs.These caps are shouldered, as shown, for contact with the lower face ofthe lid E, and on these shoulders I arrange washers a a. I also line thelower face of the lid with a lining,a/, made preferably of rubber. Thewashers a a may be made of leather, rubber, or other suitable packingmaterial.

It will be perceived from the foregoing description, and by reference tothe drawing, that the posts F and F are a considerable distance fromeach other, and pass through separate openings. The posts are thusprevented from becoming attached-to each other in case either or bothare filled with frost, and in no case can the friction of one upon theother cause both to be moved at the same time when only one is depressedby the train. It will also be perceived that, by employing packing inthe manner described, waterand other foreign matter will be preventedfrom entering the openings in which the posts play.

J is a lever pivoted at or near itsupper end to the case. This lever hasa short lateral arm, 6, extending from its upper part and entering anotch, e, in the post F. H is a spring, resting against the lower end ofthe lever J. This lever and the posts F F are centrally slotted, asrepresented by the dotted lines; and e is a pin, extending across theslot in the lever. K is an arm or pendant, the upper part of which ispivoted to the case, and this arm is also centrally slotted, asrepresented. L is a hook, passing freely through the slots in the posts,in the lever, and in the arm K. One end of this hook is constructed toengage the pin e, and the other is slotted longitudinally, as shown atc. c is a pin passing through the arm K and through the hook L, and c isa pin passing through the post F and the slot 0. D is a wire or cableattached to the lower end of the arm K and to the bellcrank.

The posts F and F, though preferably arranged in the rail, instead ofbeing struck directly by the wheels or by a pusher on the train, may bestruck by intermediate parts actuated by the train. The case E may bearranged below frost, and all of its joints should be packed orotherwise made watertight. The parts a and a, by being in contact witheach other, will prevent the frost from making the posts F and F stickto the lid E, when these parts are made of metal.

When the train approaches the capI in the direction indicated by thearrow, the post F will be pushed downward and act on the arm 0, thusswinging the lower end of the lever J in the direction indicated by thearrow there shown. The lever carries with it the hook L, which, in turn,swings the arm K in the same direction. When the arm K is thus swung,

the bell-crank is actuated through the instrumentality of the wire orcable D, which, in turn, draws down the wire D and strikes the alarm.When the cap I is first struck the post F is pushed downward, and bythis means the hook L is raised from the pin 0. The arm K is, therefore,not now actuated, and. hence the signal is not struck. When the cap I isfirst struck the signal will be struck before the pin e is thusreleased. When the cap I is first struck this pin will remain releaseduntil after the cap I is struck. The spring H returns the lever J to itsoriginal position. The posts F and F are returned to their originalposition by the spring H, and all the parts are so connected that theyreturn to their proper places as soon as the train has passed.

A visual signal may be operated in like manner. The wire cable orconnecting-rods employed to connect thearm K to the signal may bearranged below the suriace of the ground, or upon exposed supports, asmay be deemed best.

The post F and lever J, only, may be employed, the cable being attacheddirectly to the lever in case it may be deemed desirable to have thesignal struck by trains passing in both directions, or on a doubletrack, where the trains move in only one direction on each part.

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is'- 1. In a railwaysignal,thecombination,with the water-tight case E, of the movable shoulderedposts F F, caps I I, and the packingrings a a. interposed between theshoulder on the caps and lower surface of the cover E of the case,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In combination, the vertically yielding posts F and F, the pivotedand yielding lever J, the pivoted arm K, and the hook or connecting-rodL, all arranged and operating together, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

3. The removable flanged caps I and I, mounted on the yielding posts Fand F and passing freely through the lid E, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

4. In a railway-signal, the combination, with the yielding post Fprovided with the notch -e, of the yielding lever J provided with thearm e, adjusted to enter the notch in the post, substantially as-and forthe purpose specified.

HENRY O. CROSBY.

Witnesses:

F. F. WARNER, N. 0. GRIDLEY.

